Container, storage and filled cone producing apparatus and method of using the same

ABSTRACT

A filled or unfilled cone storage apparatus wherein the apparatus includes a containment portion having channels disposed therein for housing filled or unfilled cones. The apparatus also includes a guide plate disposed within the containment portion. The apparatus can also include a lid portion for engaging with the containment portion to close the cone storage apparatus.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a conversion of U.S. Provisional Application having U.S. Ser. No. 62/931,591, filed Nov. 6, 2019, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e). The disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a container, storage and filled cone producing apparatus for carrying and storing filled and unfilled cones and generating filled cones.

2. Description of the Related Art

Filled cones are unfilled cones that have been filled with tobacco, hemp, cannabis, or some other smokable product. Cases for containing cigarettes, unfilled cones or filled cones are known in the art. Similarly, kits for rolling cigarettes and making filled cones are known in the art. There does not appear to be a single apparatus for carrying cigarettes and filled and unfilled cones and facilitating the production of cigarettes and filled cones.

Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus that can be used to carry and store filled and unfilled cones and generate filled cones.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is directed to a filled or unfilled cone storage apparatus. The apparatus includes a containment portion having channels disposed therein for housing filled or unfilled cones. The apparatus also includes a guide plate disposed within the containment portion. The apparatus can also include a lid portion for engaging with the containment portion to close the cone storage apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view of a cone apparatus constructed in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded, side-elevational view of the cone apparatus constructed in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of an unfolded template of a portion of another embodiment of the cone apparatus constructed in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of an unfolded template of another portion of the cone apparatus shown in FIG. 4 constructed in accordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

As shown in FIGS. 1-2, the present disclosure relates to a cone apparatus 10 for storing and carrying unfilled cones 12 and filled cones 14 and for facilitating the creation of filled cones 14. The filled cones 14 can be filled with a smokable material 16, such as tobacco, hemp, cannabis or some other smokable material 16.

The cone apparatus 10 includes a containment portion 18 for retaining the cones 12 and 14 in the cone apparatus 10. The containment portion 18 includes a base portion 20 for providing a part of the enclosure of the containment portion 18. The containment portion 18 also includes a first sidewall 22 extended from the base portion 20 and connected to a second sidewall 24, which extends from the base portion 20, and a third sidewall 26 extended from the base portion 20 and connected to a fourth sidewall 28, which extends from the base portion 20. The second sidewall 24 can be connected to the third sidewall 26 and the fourth sidewall 28 can also be connected to the first sidewall 22 to ensure enclosure of the sides of the containment portion 18. In one embodiment, the sidewalls 22, 24, 26 and 26 can be created using a single sheet of material that is manipulated to create the sidewalls 22, 24, 26 and 28 and joined at the ends of the sheet of material to enclose the sidewall portion of the containment portion 18.

The cone apparatus 10 further includes internal walls 30 disposed within the containment portion 18 to create channels 32 for accepting filled and unfilled cones 14 and 12. The number of internal walls 30 and channels 32 created in the cone apparatus 10 depends on preference. In an exemplary embodiment, the cone apparatus 10 includes four internal walls 30 to create five channels 32. In this embodiment, the internal walls 30 can extend from the one sidewall to another at various angles and even intersect each other to create the channels 32. The channels 32 can extend along a length of the internal walls 30 and be created between parts of the internal walls 30 and parts of the sidewalls 22, 24, 26 and 28. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the containment portion 18 does not have the internal walls 30 disposed therein, thus there are no channels 32 created inside the containment portion 18.

The cone apparatus 10 can also include a guide plate 34 disposed atop the internal walls 30 and inside the containment portion 18. The guide plate 34 includes openings 36 disposed therein that are aligned with the channels 32 and sized to be able to permit an unfilled or filled cone 12 or 14 to extend there through. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the guide plate 34 can be secured to an inner surface 38 of the sidewalls 22, 24, 26 and 28 and/or secured to top portions 38 of the internal walls 30. The guide plate 34 is secured a certain distance from the base portion 20 so that the unfilled or filled cones 12 or 14 inserted through the openings 36 of the guide plate 34 can engage portions of the edges 40 of the openings 36 and the base portion 20 of the containment portion 18, which causes the unfilled or filled cones 12 or 14 to remain accessible to the user.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the cone apparatus 10 can include a packing plate 42 that is selectively positionable atop the guide plate 34 in the containment portion 18. The packing plate 42 can include an extended member 44 for providing a user something to grasp the packing plate 42 when it is desirable to remove the packing plate 42 from or insert the packing plate 42 into the containment portion 18. The packing plate 42 can also include openings 46 disposed therein that are aligned with the openings 36 disposed in the guide plate 34 and the channels 32. The openings 46 disposed in the packing plate 42 are sized such that they are about the same diameter as the diameter of a wider, open end of an unfilled cone 12 so that any smokable material 16 poured into the containment portion 18 above the packing plate 42 will be funneled into the unfilled cones 12 to create filled cones 14. In one embodiment, the openings 46 in the packing plate 42 can be tapered edges 47 so that the smokable material 16 is funneled toward the openings 46.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the openings 36 in the guide plate 34 are smaller than the openings 46 disposed in the packing plate 42. The openings 36 in the guide plate 34 are smaller than the openings 46 in the packing plate 42 so that both openings 36, 46 can engage the cone 12 at various positions on the cone 12, which has a varying diameter along the length of the cone 12.

The cone apparatus 10 can also include a lid portion 48 securable to the sidewalls 22, 24, 26 and 28 of the containment portion 18 of the cone apparatus 10. The lid portion 48 cooperates with the containment portion 18 to maintain the unfilled or filled cones 12 or 14 in the cone apparatus 10. The lid portion 48 can be releasably secured to the containment portion 18 via any manner known in the art. Examples of ways the lid portion 48 could be releasably secured to the containment portion 18 include, but are not limited to frictionally secured, snap fit, releasable adhesive, any childproof lid securing means known in the art, and the like.

All parts of the cone apparatus 10 can be constructed of any material known in the art capable of performing the desired function and operation of the cone apparatus 10. In one exemplary embodiment, the cone apparatus 10 can be constructed of paper based materials, such as cardboard.

A tamping device 50 can also be included with the cone apparatus 10 for packing the smokable material 16 down into an unfilled cone 12. The cone apparatus 10 can also include filled and unfilled cones 14 and 12 therein.

The cone apparatus 10 can be used to fill unfilled cones 12 to create filled cones 14. Unfilled cones 12 can be placed down into the channels 32 through the openings 346 of the packing plate 42 and the openings 36 of the guide plate 34. The smokable material 16 can then be placed down into each unfilled cone 12 or the smokable material 16 can be poured down into the containment portion 18 atop the packing plate 42. Once the smokable material 16 is poured atop the packing plate 42, the lid portion 48 can be secured to the containment portion 18. Then the cone apparatus 10 can be shaken and/or repetitively forced downward with a sudden stop to pack the smokable material 16 down into the unfilled cones 12 to make filled cones 14. The smokable material 16 can be packed further into the filled cone 14 with the tamping device 50 if the user so chooses. If desirable, the packing plate 42 can then be removed so that paper ends adjacent to unfilled portions of the filled cones 14 can be used to pull the filled cones 14 out of the cone apparatus 10 or the paper ends can be twisted or folded to secure the smokable material 16 inside the filled cone.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, a portion of a cone storage apparatus 100 can be generated from an unfolded template 102. The cone storage apparatus 100 is used to store filled and/or unfilled cones 12. Template 102 is shown in FIG. 3. The unfolded template 102 can be folded along fold lines 104 to generate a containment area 106 with a lid portion 108 attached thereto. FIG. 4 shows another unfolded template 110 of another portion of the cone storage apparatus 100. The unfolded template 110 can be folded along fold lines 112 to create a guide apparatus 114. The guide apparatus 114 can include an upper plate portion 116 and a lower plate portion 118. The upper plate portion 114 can include a first set openings 120 that are larger than a second set of openings 122 disposed in the lower plate portion 116 of the guide apparatus 114. The packing plate 42 described herein can still be used with this embodiment of the present disclosure.

From the above description, it is clear that the present disclosure is well-adapted to carry out the objectives and to attain the advantages mentioned herein, as well as those inherent in the disclosure. While presently preferred embodiments have been described herein, it will be understood that numerous changes may be made which will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and which are accomplished within the spirit of the disclosure and claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A filled or unfilled cone storage apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a containment portion for housing filled or unfilled cones; a guide plate disposed within the containment portion; and a lid portion for engaging with the containment portion to close the cone storage apparatus.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the guide plate includes openings that allow access to the containment portion of the cone storage apparatus.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the guide plate is disposed atop internal walls in the containment portion, the internal walls cooperate to create channels that are generally aligned with the openings in the guide plate.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a packing plate disposed between the guide plate and the lid portion, the packing plate having openings disposed therein in general alignment with the openings in the guide plate.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the openings in the packing plate are larger than the openings in the guide plate, the openings in the packing plate and the guide plate are sized responsive to the size of the diameter of the cones at locations where the openings in the guide plate and the packing plate are adjacent to the cones.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the openings in the packing plate and the openings of the guide plate are sized such that the diameter of the openings in the packing plate are substantially the same diameter as a wider, open end of an unfilled cone and the diameter of the openings in the guide plate are substantially the same size as the diameter of the cones at the location of the guide plate.
 7. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the packing plate has an extended member that extends upward from the packing plate toward the lid portion for a user to grasp so the packing plate can be inserted and removed from the containment area.
 8. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the openings disposed in the packing plate include a tapered edge that funnels smokable material into the unfilled cones.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the lid portion is releasably securable to the containment portion.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 further including a tamping device for use by the user to tamp smokable material down into an unfilled cone.
 11. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the internal walls can be disposed in the containment area in any manner such that a plurality of channels are created in the containment area.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the containment area includes four internal walls that create five channels.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the guide plate is secured to an inner wall of a sidewall that extends from a base portion to create the containment portion.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the guide plate can be secured to the inner wall of four sidewalls that extend from the base portion to create the containment portion.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the guide plate is secured inside the containment area a certain distance from the base portion so the filled or unfilled cones can engage the openings in the guide plate when the filled or unfilled cones are deposited in the cone apparatus. 